


When I was little

by Soulpeace



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-16
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-07 19:57:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3181226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soulpeace/pseuds/Soulpeace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Are you Kageyama Tobio?” he asked with a little frown.</p><p>The boy nodded.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The day’s training being over, the team started to clean up as they usually did. 

Hinata and Kageyama were rushing around with the brooms, competitive even when it came to cleaning. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were folding the net, eyeing the two other boys wearily.

They were done with the brooms and were now racing again to see who could put the balls away the fastest. One would think that Kageyama, being that much taller and bigger, would carry more and faster. But Hinata made up for his size with sheer stubbornness.

Kageyama still arrived first a the equipment storage, Hinata only a few steps behind him.

The whole team turned toward the storage when they heard Hinata’s exclamation. This wasn’t his victory cry, nor was it his usual complaint one when Kageyama beat him at one of their multitude of challenges. The sound of balls hitting the floor preceded the sight of them rolling out of the storage. Daichi and Suga ran over to the storage, slight worry starting to wove it way into them, followed shortly by Asahi, Noya and Tanaka.

They expected many things, especially coming from these two boys. What they found, though, was not something they ever thought could have happened. In fact, it was extraordinary enough that Asahi fainted from fear. (Although he would forever deny it and pretend he had only slipped on a wet patch and hit his head on the floor.) Scaredy cat if there was one.

What they found was Hinata, pale and unmoving, pointing at something in the back of the storage. That something moved toward them a little and gasps could be heard from all present. This was Kageyama alright, same hair, same eyes. This was Kageyama, except he was a little boy instead of a grown teenager. 

Hinata, bless his clueless innocence, was the first to find his voice again.

“What is this kid doing in here? And where’s Kageyama? If he’s not there, then I win!” he said, jumping in the air with a fist of victory.

Nobody at all swooned (or at least, that’s what the official version would later say) when the tiny version of Kageyama answered in a small voice.

“I’m Kageyama, I’m here.” And he lifted his little hand, as children are taught to do in school. 

What happened next was never very clear. There was confusion, a lot of screaming, manly tears, despair and hilarity depending on the people and mostly there were questions. What had happened? Was this really Kageyama? Was this an elaborate joke? Who would even make this kind of joke?

The only questions that mattered in the end, were asked by no other than the main subject of the confusion.

“Where’s my mommy? Where is this? Are you playing volleyball?” All questions asked in that tiny cute voice, so unlike Kageyama. The boy’s lips were starting to waver a little bit. Obviously, he was getting a bit scared.

Once again, it was the team’s ray of sunshine that saved them all.

Hinata crouched down to speak to the boy face to face.

“Are you Kageyama Tobio?” he asked with a little frown.

The boy nodded.


	2. Chapter 2

Hinata smiled and the boy tentatively smiled back at him.

“Do you know who I am, Kage--, I mean, Tobio-kun?” Hinata asked.

Tobio tilted his head on the side a little, observing Hinata with more attention you would expect in a young child. 

Tentatively, he said : “You’re… playing a lot of volleyball with me? And you jump really high! I think…”. As he was talking, he had raised his arms in excitement over how high Hinata could jump, lowering them slowly as doubt entered his tone.

“That’s right!” Hinata said. “We play a lot of volleyball together! And you toss to me very often!” His smile and words were somewhat reassuring the boy and he smiled at Hinata in return. 

Sugawara kneeled beside Hinata so he could also be face to face with little Tobio.

“Hi there,” he said with a smile and a wave of the hand toward the child, “do you remember me also?”

Tobio nodded without giving any more detail. He took a step closer to Hinata, as if seeking protection close to the teen he seemed to remember the most.

“When you play with us, usually, you’re a lot bigger. Do you remember that?” Asked Sugawara. 

The child didn’t seem to fully understand the question. “Bigger?” he said. “You’re all very tall.” He looked down at his hands, seeing Hinata’s hand beside his own. “I’m little.” He raised his head toward Sugawara. “You’re not going to play with me anymore?”

He seemed so sad at the idea that Suga would have hugged him in reassurance. So as to not scare him further, he just tousled his hair gently.

“Of course we’re going to keep playing with you, Tobio-kun! Don’t you worry about that, okay?”

The boy smiled and nodded at him. On the subject of volleyball, he was as his older self had been, happy as long as he could play.

 

Takeda sensei looked at coach Ukai and Daichi and nodded toward the outside of the storage. The three of them got out of the small room, worry etched on their faces.

“Kageyama-kun seems to remember some things from his current life, but he’s still a young child. I’d say he was no more than four or five years old.” 

Daichi and the coach nodded their agreement and let him continue.

“I don’t know what happened there, but we need to call his parents. Let them know that they need to come and get him tonight and decide with them what to do with the child until…. well, until he gets back to his normal self, assuming he will?” He looked at coach Ukai questioningly as he was talking.

The coach shook his hands in front of him with an air of panic.

“Don’t look at me! I have no idea what happened in there!” He pointed at the storage behind him with his thumb over his shoulder. “No idea when, or even *if* he’ll ever be back to normal!”.

“I agree with you sensei,” said Daichi, “we need to see what his parents want to do. We have a week off school starting tomorrow, if needed, I’m sure you can offer them the option of leaving Tobio-chan in our care. The team won’t mind. And this way, if Kageyama’s still in there somewhere, he won’t feel like he missed out on the training we had been planning on.”

Takeda sensei and the coach agreed with Daichi and the sensei left the gym to make the call.


	3. Chapter 3

When Kageyama’s parents arrived, the team was expecting anger, maybe tears and mostly incomprehension. What they had instead was laughs and smiles.

Little Tobio ran to his mom when he saw her enter the gym, happiness painted all over his face. She was only taken aback for a couple of seconds and then she was kneeling down, arms open.

Holding the boy, she got up again and her eyes found the sensei. 

“We had been wondering when this was going to happen to him”, she said, hugging the little boy.

“When… what?” Takeda sensei and the coach were looking at each other in incomprehension.

“Nobody remembers why anymore, but this happens to all the male heir in my family.” Tobio’s father was smoothing out some stray hair on little Tobio’s head. “Legend has it that it was a blessing, given to us by a fox faerie, when the family still used to live in the mountains. All we do know for sure is that it happens, and we never know when. Happned to me when I was 23, just after I met my wife.”

His eyes met his wife’s and something passed between them, leaving them both with a smile.

“It is meant to be a good thing, which is why nobody in the family worries much about it.” he finished with another smile.

In the background, the rest of the team was looking at them curiously. 

“How come Kageyama’s smile is so scary when his mom and dad are so nice?” Hinata failed to whisper to Tanaka, who had to cough to hide his laugh after Daichi silenced them with a hard look.

Takeda sensei pushed his glasses back on his nose nervously. “We… You… I mean, you are welcome to leave Kageyama-kun with us, if it’s easier for you to do so.” He bowed sligthly.

Kageyama’s mom, who had been talking with Tobio in a soft voice, raised her head and looked at them all with a smile.

“I am quite certain Tobio would love nothing more than to stay with his friends while he lives that experience. Wouldn’t you Tobio?”

The little boy squirmed out of her hold and turned toward the team, not quite a king at that size, but definitely a little prince already.  
“I want to play volleyball!” he said, raising both arms when he saw Hinata and Tanaka do the same while smiling at him.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Mrs Kageyama left Tobio in Takeda sensei’s care. The team had begun the warm up already, but Hinata ran over to them, offering to take care of Tobio.

He crouched to be at the same height, “You want to come with me and get all warmed up before we start to play volleyball, Tobio-chan?” he asked, while extending a hand toward the boy.

Tobio turned toward his mother, silently asking if he could go with his friend. She smiled and gave him a kiss on the head and a little push toward Hinata, wishing him a good day.

Tobio took Hinata’s hand and they walked toward the rest of the team. Suga helped Tobio when the movements were difficult, or when they required more balance than the boy had, and soon had Tobio giving him the biggest smile and even a surprise hug at the end of the warming up.

The coach gathered them to give them a few quick instructions of what to do until Aoba Jousai came in, and off they were. One member of the team was always with Tobio. Hinata challenging him to a jump contest, Tanaka teaching him to show off the tiny uniform Kiyoko has managed to find during the previous evening or Asahi carrying him over his shoulder so he could hit the soft tosses sent by Suga.

Tobio’s favourite so far was Nishinoya and the way he was teaching him to roll and roll on the floor, tickling him between bouts of rolling. Nishinoya wasn’t the biggest but his laugh was definitely the loudest.

Tobio found himself with Daichi next, and they went over lots of different strategies together. Mostly a strategy to give Suga a paper flower.

When Daichi tried to hand Tobio to the next team member however, it didn’t go quite as planned. Tsukishima looked at Daichi with a frown, and when he lowered his eyes toward Tobio, the boy half hid behind Daichi’s leg.

Yamaguchi was running over to the rescue, but was stopped short by Tsukki’s raised hand. He held his other hand toward Tobio, no expression on his face, until the boy took it. 

Tobio and Tsukki took a break together. First they went to the vending machine, where Tsukki held Tobio high enough so he could push the button for his milk box, and when they went back inside, a nervous Yachi gave Tobio a small box of cookies she had prepared just for him.

They sat together, Tsukki watching their teammates training and Tobio surreptitiously trying to look at him from the side. Until Tsukki turned toward him with a blank look.

“What?” he said, not as hostile as usual, but far from the gentle tone the others had been using to talk to their young team members. 

Tobio didn’t seem to care much, though, and while he drank his milk with a straw, he pointed at the bit of t-shirt that could be seen peeking under Tsukki’s sweater. 

“Is that a dinosaur?” he asked once his mouth was empty. His big blue eyes looked up at Tsukki in excited wonder. “I know lots about dinosaurs!”

For the first time of the day, a smile appeared on Tsukki’s face, and this particular smile was the most genuine he had ever graced Tobio with.


End file.
